Play Games Online On Xbox One
Today, we are sharing more details on our plans to make online multiplayer in free-to-play games available on Xbox without an Xbox Live Gold membership. As part of listening to your feedback, this change will take place starting today, and all Xbox players will be able to access online multiplayer at no charge for a library of over 50 free-to-play games that support online multiplayer.
Play Games Online On Xbox One
The full list of more than 50 free-to-play games is available on Xbox.com and below; the Xbox.com list will be updated as more free-to-play games launch. For more information about these changes and your Xbox membership options, please visit our FAQ.
Microsoft made a big move to make free-to-play Xbox games infinitely more accessible. Previously, an Xbox Live Gold subscription was required to play "free" games on the service, effectively making their free-to-play label as misnomer. Now that all free-to-play Xbox games are truly free to play, some fans may be wondering where exactly to start, as there's quite a few titles that are part of the lineup.
The free-to-play Xbox games list is already quite the long one and will grow with time. For now, though, there's already quite the selection of free-to-play games readily available for Xbox users to choose from.
While there are many free games on Xbox without Gold, some definitely stand out more than others. Those who want to play the best of the best free Xbox games may want to consider checking out some of the heavy hitters first.
Updated February 9, 2022 by Dalton Cooper: In the past year, the list of free Xbox games that players can play without signing up for Xbox Live Gold has seen two major additions, strengthening the lineup and giving Xbox's free-to-play library a significant boost.
Then in January 2022, Krafton relaunched PUBG: Battlegrounds as a free-to-play experience. PUBG: Battlegrounds became one of the best-selling video games of all time while it was being pushed as a premium product, but this jump to free-to-play should potentially expand its horizons to even more players.
Call of Duty: Warzone remains one of the most popular battle royale games in the world, and so it being completely playable for free on Xbox is definitely a big deal. Call of Duty: Warzone players on Xbox can play the game as much as they want without paying a dime, but there are cosmetic bundles available to purchase for those interested. Like many other modern live service shooter games, Call of Duty: Warzone also has a Battle Pass, rewarding those who complete it with new cosmetics and other rewards.
Battle royale games thrive in a free-to-play environment, and the perfect example of that is Epic Games' Fortnite. While Fortnite may not be quite as popular as it was a few years ago, there's no denying the game's incredible staying power. Fortnite is currently in Chapter 3, which flipped the existing battle royale map over and of course, added a variety of new skins for players to add to their collection.
One of the most popular battle royale games ever made is PUBG: Battlegrounds, which really helped kickstart the craze that would go on to inspire the likes of Apex Legends and Fortnite. For the longest time, a key difference between PUBG and the battle royale games it inspired was the fact that it was pay-to-play, as opposed to free-to-play. However, that changed in January 2022 when the decision was made to relaunch PUBG: Battlegrounds as a free-to-play game.
Roblox is quite possibly the most popular game on this list, with well over 100 million active players to this day. Roblox, for the uninitiated, essentially lets players create their own experiences and games and share them online. Some Roblox games have even become popular enough that they've spun off into being their own thing. Roblox has remained popular on Xbox since it debut on the Xbox One in 2015, and now anyone can play it even if they don't have an Xbox Live Gold subscription.
While the aforementioned games are arguably the biggest free Xbox games without Gold, there are many others available to play. Here is the full list of free Xbox games that do not require Gold. Please note that this list will evolve over time, as new free-to-play games will be added occasionally.
There have been rumors that Microsoft may do away with Xbox Live Gold entirely to focus its efforts on its Xbox Game Pass subscription service instead. If that were to happen, not only would Xbox fans be able to play these free-to-play games with no subscription, but they would also be able to enjoy the online multiplayer components for their favorite games without an Xbox Live Gold subscription as well. Whether or not that actually comes to pass remains to be seen, but Xbox fans can check out these free games in the meantime.
Dalton Cooper is an editor for Game Rant who has been writing about video games professionally since 2011. Having written thousands of game reviews and articles over the course of his career, Dalton considers himself a video game historian and strives to play as many games as possible. Dalton covers the latest breaking news for Game Rant, as well as writes reviews, guide content, and more.
Hazelight Studios is the rare developer that wholly embraces co-op when it comes to game design. Its debut title, A Way Out, can only be played cooperatively, either split-screen or online. A Way Out puts players in the roles of two convicts who plan and execute a prison escape. Though each player is often performing different tasks, the objectives you complete inevitably help your partner make progress, and vice versa. It's a wonderful experience that truly emphasizes teamwork, and because the two roles are different, you can run through it a second time and swap characters. In addition to compelling puzzle, stealth, and shooting gameplay, A Way Out is bolstered by strong writing and performances that really attach you to the plight of these troubled men. A Way Out is an EA Play title, so Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can play it without buying. It also has a buddy pass that allows a friend to play with you online without needing to buy their own copy of the game.
Borderlands: The Handsome Collection is one of the best picks for first-person shooter fans who want to play with friends or family. While many shooters don't offer co-op campaigns (offline or online), the Borderlands franchise is ideal for co-op, and it even supports four-player split-screen. Borderlands: The Handsome Collection comes with Borderlands 2 and Borderlands: The Pre-Sequel, two awesome loot shooters filled with intense gunfights, a dizzying amount of loot, and off-the-wall humor that keeps things lighthearted. You could also opt for Borderlands 3, but we picked the Handsome Collection due to the sheer variety of content offered in the package.
Castle Crashers is an Xbox Live Arcade classic and one of the first indie games that really took off on the service for Xbox 360. While it held up pretty well, the remastered version is even better thanks to better textures and frame rate. In Castle Crashers, you and up to three friends play as knights on a journey to save princesses from an evil wizard. The story isn't what stands out (it's rather generic); Castle Crashers has excellent hack-and-slash gameplay and a leveling system that improves your abilities the further you progress through the enemy-packed stages. It has great cartoon visuals, a lighthearted tone, and a wide variety of enemies and bosses to slay. If you like action games that feel like they belong in an arcade, Castle Crashers is a solid pick.
As a live service game with a vibrant community, it's no surprise that Destiny 2 has found its way onto this list. Bungie's much-improved sequel has a massive amount of content, almost all of which is tailored toward online co-op with friends and random Guardians roaming the universe. Teaming up with friends makes Destiny 2's later game challenges much more doable and, most importantly, more fun. Although Destiny 2 is a few years old, it still receives consistent updates and new content, including the recently released Witch Queen expansion. With numerous meaty expansions available already and more content on the way, Destiny 2 will remain one of the best live service co-op games for a while. A solid chunk of the game is free-to-play, so you can try it out before you have to make an investment.
Divinity: Original Sin 2's Definitive Edition has made its way onto practically every games best list we've published. It's not all too surprising since we awarded it a rare 10/10 in our Divinity: Original Sin 2 review, but it's a testament to just how breathtaking and original of a game it truly is. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is an old-school CRPG for a new age, complete with a spacious and detailed open world, a meticulously crafted turn-based combat system with near-endless layers, and colorful characters that draw you into its winding story. Online co-op supports up to four players, while local co-op is two-player only. Divinity: Original Sin 2 is brimming with dozens upon dozens of hours of awesome content, and it's even more satisfying when you play with friends.
Don't Starve Together takes the well-designed action-survival foundation of the original game and adds the ability to play it cooperatively either online or split-screen. In Don't Starve Together, your job is simply to survive. By day, you gather resources and fortify your base, but at night you have to defend yourself against waves of enemies. It's a fulfilling loop, and thanks to randomly generated environments, each run feels unique. Outside of the main survival mode, Don't Starve Together has two other modes that offer less demanding takes on the gameplay.
Even though two mainline Gears of War games launched on Xbox One, we're recommending Gears of War: Ultimate Edition. A beautiful remaster of the first entry in the series, Gears of War: Ultimate Edition's campaign holds up remarkably well all these years later. It features the best, most grounded story in the series, and each of the lengthy levels has intricately designed setpieces that help show off the finely tuned third-person shooter gameplay. It's also just pretty cool to return to the game that popularized the "cover" shooter. Gears of War: Ultimate Edition supports two-player local and online co-op and is available to play for free for Game Pass subscribers. 041b061a72